Blades Take Second Point From Stressful Shootout Contest From Broncos

It was another roller-coaster ride of a W-H-L game Friday at SaskTel Centre, with the Saskatoon Blades prevailing 6-5 in a shootout over the Swift Current Broncos.

Bridge City Bunch captain Tyler Parr (pictured) scored the shootout winner in the fifth round of the penalty shot competition. That came after the teams turned a 4-4 tie, and likely overtime, into a 5-5 tie with an actual overtime period – each scoring in the final eight seconds of the third period. It looked like the Blue and Gold had won the contest in regulation time when Zach Olsen surprised Swifty goaltender Archer Cooke with a quick shot off a scrambled face-off with just eight seconds remaining on the power play. However, after the Blades iced the puck, Trae Wilkie timed the puck hitting the ice on the face-off in the Saskatoon end with a slap shot that eluded Ryley Budd with 1.4 seconds left, forcing extra time. Parr scored during regulation time for a third straight game, Hunter Laing, Elias Pul and Kazden Mathies also found the back of the net for the Bridge City Bunch. Mathies added an assist for his fourth straight multi-point game and Hayden Harsanyi chipped in two helpers. The Blue and Gold jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the mid-point of the second period, only to have Swift Current battle back to tie it at 3-3 before the half-way mark of the third period. The teams then exchanged goals to force a fourth period. In the shootout, Sawyer Dingman scored first for the Broncos, only to have Harsanyi respond immediately after. There were no goals in the second, third and fourth rounds of the penalty shot competition with Parr scoring after Wilkie was denied by Budd in the fifth round. The 27-22-5 Blades remain in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Brandon after the Wheat Kings edged Prince Albert 4-3 Friday night. The Raiders make the long trek home to host Saskatoon Saturday night at 7 at the Art Hauser Centre with CJWW’s broadcast starting at 6:45. Meanwhile, the Wheaties journey to Swift Current tomorrow. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Dan Da Silva, Parr and Budd, as well as Les Lazaruk’s second intermission chat with the Blades’ Director of Business Operations, Tyler Wawryk, plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..

SWIFT CURRENT Goals SWIFT CURRENT PLAYERS (plus) SASKATOON PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 2nd 11:52  27-15 2 3 12 15 27 13 19 25 47 88 2nd 14:07  15-12 3 12 15 27 44 4 20 26 37 77 3rd 9:45  14-2 2 3 14 19 42 11 13 16 27 47 3rd 16:22 PP  19-12-15 3rd 19:58  19 12 15 19 29 32 42 13 20 23 37 77

SASKATOON Goals SASKATOON PLAYERS (plus) SWIFT CURRENT PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 5:22  88-19-25 4 19 25 37 88 2 3 12 19 42 1st 17:39  20-26-37 20 26 37 41 77 7 14 19 25 42 2nd 6:49 PP  27-47-11 3rd 11:41  77-26 20 26 46 47 77 7 17 25 29 32 3rd 19:52 PP  9-77